StarNet's new mobile app offers website's full content

Social-media links, optional news alerts also part of service

Want to read the Arizona Daily Star on the go?

We can now tell you, "There's an app for that."

StarNet has been available to smartphone users on a mobile-optimized website for several years, but, this week, the newspaperdebuted its first full-content mobile application on the AppleiTunes Store.

That means the Star is now available on your iPhone, iPod touchor iPad with plenty of bells and whistles not available on themobile website.

Arizona Daily Star Mobile, which is free to download, featuresphoto slide shows, videos, classified ads, weather forecasts,obituaries and sharing tools for social-media sites such as Facebookand Twitter.

Star Mobile will send breaking news alerts as pop-ups to yourmobile device, usually no more than two to three times per dayunless a major news story develops. The alerts are also optional.

The Star's app is part of a snowballing movement across the newsindustry to incorporate mobile devices, said StarNet operationsmanager Rob Wisner.

"People are moving to mobile devices in droves," Wisner said."They always want to be connected to friends, news and information.They don't always want to be sitting at a computer."

The Arizona Daily Star is also working toward releasing an appfor the Android Market, as well as an app specifically designed fortablet computers such as the iPad, said Star online editor JohnBolton.

Both apps are expected to be available sometime this summer,Bolton said.

Arizona Daily Star Mobile joins several other online productsfrom the Star, including the Wildcat Extra sports app and the TucsonFestival of Books app.

The print edition of the Star is also available on iPad for thesubscribers to the E-Edition.

Contact reporter Alex Dalenberg at adalenberg@azstarnet.com or 807-8429.

DID YOU KNOW

StarNet debuted in 1995 both as the Arizona Daily Star's onlinepresence and as an Internet service provider. At its peak, StarNetoffered dial-up and DSL Internet service to more than 10,000customers.

For more information

To download Arizona Daily Star Mobile or to view the Star's othermobile offerings, go online to azstarnet.com/apps